Theater News

Debbie Allen and Dick Van Dyke Among This Year's Kennedy Center Honorees

Check out the full list of honorees here.

Debbie Allen and Dick Van Dyke
Debbie Allen and Dick Van Dyke
(© David Gordon/Joseph Marzullo)

Stage greats Debbie Allen and Dick Van Dyke are among this year's Kennedy Center Honorees.

The pair will be honored alongside musicians Joan Baez, Garth Brooks, and Midori at the ceremony, which will be filmed live May 17-22 and aired on CBS at 9pm ET on June 6. The production will use the entire Kennedy Center campus in Washington, DC, and will include in-person and virtual tributes, with multiple events taking place in front of physically distanced audience members. The Kennedy Center Honors are usually presented in December.

"This is so much more than our nation's Highest Artistic Award, it is a measure of how my footprint has resonated as a path of light over the years and in this time of tremendous uncertainty, fear, and search for hope," Allen said in a statement.

"Many years ago, I was the host of a similar event held, as I recall, in private with the Kennedy family," Van Dyke said. "I saw the care with which the recipient was chosen from an impressive list of nominees. Since the creation of the Kennedy Center Honors, just over 200 have been honored with equal care. Being included in that small, illustrious group, is the thrill of my life."